Leggies want to take up water compact, budget deal in tandem
The budget repair bill could be taken up next week in conjunction with the Great Lakes Compact during a special legislative floor session, aides to legislative leaders said.
Talks continued this week as Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, and top aides met yesterday in the speaker's office to negotiate an agreement to fill the state's $525 million budget deficit. The leaders are also expected to talk today as they try to find a combination of budget-cutting initiatives that fits the agenda of the Senate, Assembly and Gov. Jim Doyle.
"They're working well together," said Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Decker. "They're working on a few details yet."
Lynch and John Murray, a spokesman for Huebsch, said a floor session appears unlikely this week as the Great Lakes Compact is still in drafting and budget talks aren't yet finished. The compact draft is expected to be finished by the end of this week. Lynch and Murray said it would be preferable to take up both the water compact and the budget adjustment bill on the same day.
"That would be ideal, but it all depends on getting a budget agreement," Murray said. "We're getting close to having all the amendments drafted on the Great Lakes Compact. If we have an agreement in the next week, it's foreseeable we could do that (in one session)."
Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill
